The only thing that stops the dust is the rain. It’s a sweet reprieve, but there is no middle ground. The land is either as dry as the Betty Ford clinic, or as wet as the ocean floor. Everything can be seen from the ridge overlooking Armadillo as John Marston gently bounces along atop...

I fear that comic will fall on deaf ears for anyone who owns a THERE WOULDN'T BE A 1ST AMENDMENT WITHOUT THE 2ND AMENDMENTbumper sticker.

Anyways, when discussing Big Topics, people have a bad habit of blaming big problems on one thing. "If only Americans just ate better food, we wouldn't spend so much money on health care." "If only Congress had enacted more environmentally-friendly fuel efficeincy standards, global warming wouldn't be happening." "If only illegal immigrants hadn't bought big houses they couldn't afford, we wouldn't have this financial crisis." Well, you're not wrong. But you're not right either. These issues are too large and too complex and have too many factors to fix by fixing one thing. There is a perfect storm of shittiness

"If only teachers carried guns, this tragedy wouldn't have happened." What if the gun was kept locked in the desk and the teacher was the first one down? "If only we had armed guards patrolling the school, this tragedy wouldn't have happened." What if the armed guard was on the other end of the campus and the killer barricaded himself inside? "If only handgun ownership was restricted..." What if he made an Oklahoma City-style bomb? "If only everybody had guns...." What if a precocious six-year old took down the killer before he killed anyone, but by the time his class had graduated high school, twenty-seven of them died from firearm accidents?

Then, our own biases get in the way:
"I play violent video games and watch violent movies and I would never do something like that, therefore its not the media." "I own many firearms and shoot recreationaly and I would never do something like that, therefore, its not the guns." I have a diagnosed mental disorder, and I would never do something like that, therefore, its not mental health." OK, well that's good to know. A sane person would never chose to become a mass murderer. But we don't know that one of these things was the non-issue.

And then remember the perfect storm of shittiness: In a country of over 300 millions, where millions of people consume violent media, and there are millions of guns in circulation, and millions of people who suffer from mental illness, you are going to have that perfect storm of shittiness.

Sorry for the book. I could have easily summed it up: Things are connected. Shit be complicated._________________Less talk, more monkey!

Last edited by GiftedMonkey on Sat Dec 22, 2012 10:09 am; edited 3 times in total

There is so much wrong in the USA and you wonder why Canadians are so proud.

Good thing they're trying to change for the better, it's just the 40-something percent who are stuck in the past and terrified of change.

We might never end racism, and isn't the US a better place where people of all colours are seen as equals without slavery or segregation? We might never end violence but I know the US would be significantly better without everyone accessing guns ASAP._________________Life is not a predetermined path but a branch of many choices that make us who we are.